A Paisley man was arrested at his home Wednesday for allegedly breaking into a fenced property twice this year looking for items to “scrap.”
Troy Lewis Elam, 34, was one of two suspects, the other of which remains unidentified, believed to have broken into the same property twice this year and taken items without permission, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, the victim reported to LCSO that when he returned to his undisclosed Paisley residence, he found that his well drop pipe, a pump and wiring had been stolen from the outside of his fenced-in home. There was also damage to the fence from where the suspects entered his property, the report said.
The victim had installed cameras on his property after a similar incident occurred in January where his air conditioning unit was stolen. The person of interest in that case was believed to be Elam, the report said.
From the camera images on Jan. 24, at 2:13 p.m. and 2:18 p.m., the victim was able to capture images of two suspects in his yard who gained access to his fenced property and damaged his pump and pipes. Within the images, a distinct photograph of a grim reaper tattoo on the suspect’s upper left arm was clearly identifiable. Part of his face was also visible, which the deputy recognized to be Elam from a prior interaction, the report said.
The victim stated that at no time did anyone have permission to enter his property for any reason, nor did anyone have permission to unlawfully damage or remove any items belonging to the victim, the report said.
On Wednesday, the deputy met with Elam at his residence, located at 45234 Georgia Street. He initially denied having any involvement in the case. However, when asked to show his upper left arm, his tattoo matched that of the suspect in the photograph, the report said.
Elam advised that he and another subject had gone to the victim’s residence a few days ago in search of items to “scrap,” stating that they entered the property through the rear at a fire break and went over the fence. This was described as already damaged and “down.” The only item that was taken was a six-inch piece of metal that the other subject took and that he did not have any involvement in the theft of the pump, wire or damage to the fence. He also denied scrapping any of the items for profit, the report said.
Despite Elam’s statement of being uninvolved, based on his admission to being on the property at the time of the burglary and theft, his intent to locate items to be scrapped that did not belong to him and his admission to taking the items, the deputy had reason to believe he participated in the listed crimes. The victim estimated the amount for the stolen items was about $2,500 and the damage to the fence and piping was about $1,500, the report said.
After searching Elam incident to arrest, he was found to have a used insulin syringe in his left pant pocket. He confirmed that the needle and syringe were used for methamphetamine by him a few hours earlier in the morning. The contents of the syringe later tested positive for methamphetamine, the report said.
Elam was arrested on charges of burglary, grand theft, criminal mischief and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $16,000.